A Commentary on the Passing Scene by
Robert Paul Wolff
rwolff@afroam.umass.edu

Coming Soon:

The following books by Robert Paul Wolff are available on Amazon.com as e-books: KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, THE AUTONOMY OF REASON, UNDERSTANDING MARX, UNDERSTANDING RAWLS, THE POVERTY OF LIBERALISM, A LIFE IN THE ACADEMY, MONEYBAGS MUST BE SO LUCKY, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF FORMAL METHODS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.Now Available: Volumes I, II, III, and IV of the Collected Published and Unpublished Papers.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for "Robert Paul Wolff Kant." There they will be.

To contact me about organizing, email me at rpwolff750@gmail.com

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Friday, February 24, 2017

FRIDAY LIST 5

1. I just returned
from a march to, and demonstration at, the office of Congressman Dave Reichert
(R-in hiding). At least a thousand people attended, many with the creative
signs we've come to expect from this new era of protest. My favorite chant:
"Where's Dave? Dave's not here!"

Dave Reichert has been in office since 2004, but this year his district went
for Clinton. His refusal to meet with constituents at a town hall is bringing
him some much-deserved bad publicity, and with a decent challenger next time,
2018 will mark the end of career in the House.

2. Called the office of Rep. Jayapal to thank her for her work on behalf of
immigrants.

1) Donated to Ossoff campaign.
2) Met with Senator Shelby's state political director to discuss concerns.
3) Called local senators and representatives about particular legislation.

Howie wrote, Joined the ACLU. Felt good.

Me:

Signed up for a small monthly donation to John L. Lewis.
Gave some more to Jon Ossoff's campaign.
Called newly elected Democratic NC Governor Roy Cooper, for whom I rang
doorbells, and congratulated him on withdrawing efforts to defend NC's hideous
voter suppression bill in the courts.
Called Senators Burr and Tillis to protest their support of Trump's new
draconian assault on undocumented residents.

Called Rep. Faso's (R) office and asked when his Town Hall
would be. The phone-answerer told me that he would be having a "Tele-Town
Hall." I asked her to convey my stong disappointment that Rep. Faso would
not be meeting with his constituents. A few days later, an org. called Citizens
of the Hudson Valley emailed that they would be holding their own Town Hall
(tonight) with or without Faso. I emailed a talk show on the local NPR station
with the time and place, and they read it on the air. It also engendered five
minutes of discussion. Hope to get back from NYC in time to go.

Gave some money to Osoff (GA) and Campoverdi (CA) and Stand Up America.

Moved the ball about two yards down the field in my effort to get our church to
take a stand on the refugees. It's now second and eight.

Joined the Not My Presidents Day protest on Central Park
West, near Trump International Hotel on February 20th, where I found that
chanting such things as "we need a leader, not a creepy tweeter!" was
not only ego-syntonic, but therapeutic. Contributed to two candidates and one
Daily Kos action through Act Blue. Also opened a Twitter account to follow
breaking news from journalists covering our descent into autocracy (35% of the
population want this--Prof Wolff's question, "What side are you on?"
is urgent and serious), rogue federal agency accounts, as well as luminaries
like Corey Robin, Sam Wang, etc. I also
sent even more money to my senator's re-election campaign, but didn't mention
it for Friday

Attended a local Our Revolution meeting (basically my little
suburban town and the adjacent one). We made a plan for upcoming (tomorrow and
Monday) health care rallies, and how to connect with other local
"Indivisible" groups to pursue larger actions. Side note: between
these two suburban communities there are maybe 30,000 people, and I know of at
least four different groups that have formed in the last month.

1. I called my Congressional Representative (Patrick McHenry) and complained
about his weekly newsletter's description of Obamacare. (Trying to find
different ways to voice the same concern.)
2. The call worked well, so I resolved to reply to his weekly letter with a
phone call every week. It won't be hard to find something that ticks me off.
3. Started reading _The Dialectic of Sex_ by Shulamith Firestone in my free
time. Will see if I can voice some angry second-wave feminist concerns in class
discussion.
4. Convinced my mother (a family nurse practitioner) to call Congress and
complain about the plan to repeal Obamacare, too. They wanted me to get off the
phone, but they said they would pass her message on to the Congressman.

About Me

As I observed in one of my books, in politics I am an anarchist, in religion I am an atheist, and in economics I am a Marxist. I am also, rather more importantly, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a violist.